Committee Assignments for 2024

At the organizational meeting on Tuesday, there were some rather large changes made to the current committee structure and a question raised as to how these changes compared to historical norms.

When I came on the Board in 2019, we only had four standing committees; Finance and Administration, Planning and Policy, Talent and Recruitment, and Health snd Human Services. These committees, despite the recent addition of the Rules Committee, were the four major committees and remain so today.

The four committees, comprised of five members, gave an opportunity for twenty total assignments. With a Board membership of eleven, there was not an opportunity for equal representation of commissioners on those committees.

So whether out of a desire to make the math work and give everyone an equal number of slots, or for other reasons, the Chair abstained from being on the Committees. Therefore, each commissioner ended up with two slots on the four committees. This had always seemed a common sense approach to make sure each non-chair Commissioner was able to have an equal role on committees.

I was supportive of the changes from last year, as I’ve said numerous times. I think going back to pre-2023 standards, and the more limited involvement it signifies, is a negative.

It is my hope though, that we can still make additional changes so that all Commissioners have a more equal representation on committees and that committees can benefit from the diverse points of view of all commissioners. As Commisisoners, we all have unique talents, experience and points of view that we all bring to the table, and employing those fully and in a way that more equally represents all Ottawa County residents seems a common sense step that we should take.